


Kindness In The End

by Emono



Category: Band of Brothers, The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author does whatever they want, Because Heaven/After Life together, Canonical Character Death, Drama & Romance, Easy gets added to K Company, Fuck You Timelines, M/M, except no one in Easy got injured or killed so everyone is there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-09 14:38:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11106645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emono/pseuds/Emono
Summary: By chance, Easy is shipped to the Pacific and laced in with K Company. There David Webster meets Andy and Eddie and finds himself feeling something he'd long forgotten about. An emotion he hadn't thought he was capable of. Trust. Love. What did the words mean if not the way Andy protected his journal in his trunk and the way Eddie kissed him like he was something precious to be savored? Maybe it's fast, maybe it's too much, but the war can't go on forever and he has a chance.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My own weird crack ship. Fuck timelines. Suspended disbelief. Snafroe is background. Enjoy and pls drop a comment if you like it~

_“Corpsman!”_

_“Look at me. Please, Eddie… please . You’re going to be okay. They’re going to fix you up. You’re going to make it back home before any of us.”_

_“Yeah, darlin’, s-sure they will.”_

_“It’s not going to end like this. This ain’t shit. That’s what you Marines say, right?”_

_“Something like that.”_

_“Yeah, this ain’t shit . Andy’s going to whoop my ass for letting you get hurt. So you better pull through or I’m-”_

 

o0o0o0o

 

“It’s hot,” Guarnere griped as he flicked the collar of his shirt. Someone inhaled loudly behind him and he held up a finger. “Shut _up_ , Malark!”

 

“I didn’t even say anything,” Malark griped, sharing a grin with Skip and Penk. He winced as he took another step. “I already have sand in my boots. This is bullshit.”

 

“I think there’s some in my ears,” Hoobler griped, digging his finger in his ear.

 

“Well no shit, Hoob, with ears that size I’m surprised there’s not a fucking crab in them already.”

 

The Pacific was dry and suffocating compared to Europe. The air was sticky and coated their tongues with the smell of rat shit and rotten coconut. But it was better out with the breeze and the open sky than stuffed in the ship. The 506th had gone a little stir-crazy all cooped up out of combat. Paratroopers didn’t do too well packed like sardines. They weren’t exactly ready to fight this new enemy but they knew they had each other and that’s what mattered. Easy Company could do anything when they put their heads to it. The whole regiment was being added to the heavily deprived 5th Marines in the 1st Division. The 506th Second Battalion was being flushed along the Marines Third.

 

Lipton informed them that Easy would be assigned to K Company, whatever that was.

 

o0o0o0o

 

“It’s bad enough we got new guys of our own coming in,” Snafu bit out, sitting with Burgie and Jay as they watched the river of fresh bodies coming in. “Now we have to shack up with army boys? High fliers? Goddamn stupid jumpers.”

 

“I think just by signing up to be here, we’re all stupid,” Burgie pointed out, hiding his cards from Jay’s wondering eyes. “Plus, I think they get paid more.”

 

“I _know_ they get paid more,” Jay cut in, tossing down a pair of Jacks.

 

“They’re going to get us all killed,” Snafu hissed. “One after the other till we’re nothing but worm food. They been killing fat Germans I could hit like the broad side of a barn. They don’t know jackshit about killing Japs!” He spat into the dirt, scowling. “Now we gotta turn their asses into something useful. Fuckin’ army, fuckin’ _rifle fodder_. It look like we got any planes around here, jumpboy?”

 

Burgie sighed as Snafu barked at the passing Paratroopers. To their credit, the new men seemed almost amused.

 

“Quit your yappin’, anklebiter!” one of the men called back, voice thick with a Philly accent but lost in the crowd. Burgie and Jay both slapped a hand on Snafu’s shoulders without bothering to look. They just barely stopped him from jumping into the march.

 

Snafu kicked the crate he sat on in frustration.“I hate this fucking bullshit. Like green marines aren’t bad enough.”

 

“You know,” Burgie began with an infuriatingly calm, inquisitive tone. “I think this is an interesting idea they set up here. They’re pairing our companies up, battalion against battalion, folding us all together. We’re vets, and those are guys are vets too. They’ve seen just as much combat as we have. They’ve lost just as many guys as we have.”

 

Two Paratroopers passed close by and their conversation briefly overlapped Burgie’s words.

 

“Do you think they got any fruit here, Doc?”

 

“Don’t see no apple trees, George. Looks like you’re out of luck.”

 

“The Germans were tough. I think these boys will learn quickly how to deal with the Japs,” Burgie continued, shuffling his cards. “We’ll train them, their most experienced guys will help us with the greenhorns. I think it’s a pretty good strategy. Ack Ack seemed pretty excited about it and I trust his judgement.”

 

“Have you heard the rumors about this E Company?” Jay asked, laying down his cards long enough to light up a smoke. “They say they’re ruthless. Real well trained and everything. I heard their CO is a demon.”

 

“A demon?” Burgie brayed. “That’s just - _Jesus_ , a _demon_. You hearing this shit, Snafu?”

 

There was an eerie quiet and they went to look at their friend only to find him gone from his perch. “Uh, Snafu? Shit, Burg, where’d he go?”

 

Snafu climbed the stack of jeep tires and peeked over the top of one to watch the group that had gathered around the sign post. They were arguing over directions but it sounded old hat, like they were used to bickering with one another. But his gaze stuck to one man in particular with a corpsman cross on his arm. He wasn’t any slighter than any of the others nor any bulkier. Snafu tried to squint beneath the man’s helmet but couldn’t see anything but high cheekbones and a chapped, pink mouth. He was average all around.

 

But that voice. Snafu swore he’d heard a taste of home in it. _Familiar_. Maybe it wasn’t as thick as his own, maybe he’d grown up in the mud and this boy had been in the city, but it didn’t matter. He needed to hear more though he couldn’t explain to himself why.

 

o0o

 

Web walked with Luz, Smokey, and Hoobler as they searched for their assigned tent. They were taking in the place and pointedly ignoring the Marines and their hooting. It had been a non-stop slew of shit since they stepped off the boats. Apparently the Marines didn’t take too kindly to the army dropping them with a bunch of grounded Paratroopers. None of Easy could blame them, they weren’t too keen on working with Marines, but both companies were down in numbers and had a mix of resources to bring to the table.

 

The higher-ups had no idea what they were doing but it was up to the enlisted to make it work.

 

Luz nudged Web. “Hey, that’s the guy in charge. Captain Haldane. Fellas’ call him Ack Ack. That’s their Dick.”

 

Web shielded his eyes and squinted against the glare of the sun. When his gaze focused he saw two blond men. They were lean and broad in all the right places. Strong jaws, impressive figures, and an intimate energy in the way they cocked their heads and hips toward one another. Among the greasers and sun-fried Marines, these two were almost strikingly handsome and cleaner than the filthy place should’ve allowed.  

 

Web was sure he was blushing but blamed it on the heat. “Wow.”

 

Luz grinned at the pink on his cheeks. “ _Wow_ , indeed.”

 

“He’s a sucker for blonds,” Hoob snorted.

 

Web sucker punched them both in the ribs but that only made them snicker more. “Shut up! Shit, don’t say stuff like that.”

 

Web didn’t know how Marines were but he’d been around the Easy Paratroopers long enough to know they didn’t give a shit about who you fucked around with. Toccoa had been high stress with plenty of thick bushes and trees to get what you wanted. Bombed out houses in Normandy, hotels in Holland, and there were always barns with hay that left distinctive scratches on palms and knees. Foxholes were dark and cold at the best of times. Fear ran deep, much deeper than prejudices or petty religious upbringings.

 

With what Easy had seen, rolling around with a handsome blond officer was low on the list of offenses. Still, joking out loud about it made him nervous. These Marines were ready to shoot them over less.

 

o0o

 

Snafu touched his tender feet as Sledge, Layden, and Oswalt left the tent with Jay. He didn’t know why Jay was so damn friendly with the brats but it was better him than Snafu. He wanted nothing to do with them as his firm rejection of a cot had suggested. Burgie was still chuckling about it as he cleaned his gun.

 

The door knocked open again and two Paratroopers walked in. The sun was at their backs and Snafu sneered at them. “Get _out_.”

 

“Fuck this,” one grunted, turning and heading right back out. “You coming, Doc?”

 

“Nah, Smoke, I’m done looking.”

 

Snafu would deny the squeak that came out of him until the day he died. He knew he was slathered in grime and sweat but still he found himself combing through his curls to make them into something halfway decent. The corpsman nodded to them both before throwing down his rucksack and pack down beside one of the cots. He snuffed in amusement at the sight of the ratty shoe there and knocked it off.

 

Burgie snickered and tried to catch eyes with Snafu but his friend’s silvery gaze was firmly fixed on the trooper.

 

Snafu gaped dumbly as he watched the trooper tip off his helmet and lay it on the cot. He raked a hand through ink black hair and tilted his head up towards the ceiling with a half sigh. Long lashes fluttered open to show off pale blue eyes and Snafu’s heart jumped up into the back of his throat. There were exhausted bruises there beneath him and when he smiled it was thin. “They ran out of rooms on our side. Officer told me it’d be fine to stay here. Eugene Roe. Medic.”

 

Snafu’s tongue felt like sandpaper, his teeth like kindling. He watched Roe walk toward him and he swore one word from his mouth would set the whole tent on fire. The man hovered over him, extending his hand and blocking out the sun to give himself a halo. He was like a fucking angel, one with an expectant gaze and who wasn’t backing down one inch. When he managed to form words they were choked. “We call ‘em corspmen.”

 

Roe hummed low and smooth, the bastard not even glistening in all the heat. He looked carved of marble, made of _ice_. “I’ll keep that in mind when I’m out on the field.”

 

“Ain’t no fields here, boo,” Snafu snapped back, trying to regain his sharp tongue. He reminded himself that these army boys were intruding on their turf, taking the places of what could’ve been more Marines. “Just mud and sand. While you were making snow angels in Germany, we got Marines dyin’ in shit and piss. And worse.”

 

“I ‘spose Marines die just as fast as Paratroopers in mud as they do in snow without a medic. So best take my hand or I’m gonna’ have trouble hearing you with sand in my ears.”

 

Snafu winced at the sharp reply but his cock twitched under his dirty dungarees. He sat up straighter and dropped his feet to the ground. He took Roe’s hand at the same moment a pained hiss pried out from between his teeth. The medic’s gaze shot to his feet and he grimaced. He started searching for something while Snafu tried to hide his feet under the cut. “What’s wrong, pretty boy? Ain’t soft like you jumpers are used to?”

 

“I’ve seen worse but that looks tender,” Roe pointed out, finally scrounging up a metal bowl. He dropped to one knee before Snafu and the Marine gawked at him. Neither Marine could believe what they were seeing as the medic poured his own full canteen into the bowl and took a fresh gauze out of his bed. “Give me your feet.”

 

“Don’t need you or Jesus washin’ my damn feet, you army fuck,” Snafu spat. The medic’s sharp glare made him jerk and before he realized it he’d presented his feet.

 

“Immersion foot, trench foot, jungle rot, call it what you want.” A bit more of that Cajun drawled worked it’s way into the troopers voice as he wet the bandage and started cleaning the worst of the sores. “Hurts like a son’bitch. I’ve seen people lose their feet being a mule. This isn’t too bad yet. I didn’t catch your name, Marine.”

 

“I didn’t give it,” he murmured, trying not to shiver at the way the man touched him without hesitation. It had been a long time since someone had dared get this close, even longer since he’d wanted them to. The confidence in those fingers had goosebumps cropping up along his chest and he just _knew_ Burgie was staring. “Snafu.”

 

“That’s not what your mother calls you,” Roe scolded, thumb digging into the arch of his foot as he cleaned up the frayed edge of an old sore.

 

“Merriell Shelton,” Burgie snitched, snickering at the sour face Snafu made.

 

“Merriell,” Roe repeated. “Good southern name.”

 

Snafu nearly swallowed his own tongue at the sound of his name with that lilt. He couldn’t remember anyone besides his mother calling him that and it wasn’t strange like it should’ve been. A shock of heat hit his gut and pooled like liquid metal between his thighs. He was sure his cock was leaving some impression on his thin pants but he didn’t care when he was so enraptured with the sight of Eugene Roe between his legs.

 

“Don’t need this,” Snafu muttered, face flaming hot as the medic rubbed slow circles into his aching heel. “Need new shoes.”

 

“If you can promise you’ll try to keep your feet dry, I’ll get you new shoes _and_ socks,” Roe promised easily, rinsing out the rag and moving to his other foot. “That means keeping your socks dry and changing them when you can.”

 

What Snafu had meant to say was that he couldn’t promise something like that. What came out was much harsher. “You ain’t got the pull to get new shoes. Whole camp’s dry.”

 

“You want to bet?” Roe snapped back, his glare hot enough to make Snafu swallow back a moan. “You won’t get shit if you don’t shut your mouth and listen.”

 

Burgie gaped at the way Snafu’s jaw snapped shut so hard his teeth clacked.

 

Roe cocked his head and moved until he caught Snafu’s wandering eyes. “I’m going to put silver nitrate on your feet, wrap ‘em, and if the weather holds up I won’t have to change it. That okay with you, Merriell?”

 

“Ain’t no one call me that.”

  
  
“Well now I do.”

 

Snafu wanted to rub his palm across the bulge in his pants at how thick Roe’s accent wrapped around the words. Like chocolate and butter and cream, every indulgent fantasy curling across the medic’s tongue. He could vividly imagine tackling the man to the dirt and licking the taste of home out from between his teeth.

 

Outside, he could hear Hoosier and a sharp-tongued trooper start a fistfight over a pack of Luckies.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Web jumped when he heard the door of the tent creak and open. He hadn’t expected anyone and he quickly shoved his book under the pillow. A lot of the Marines had been hazing him for his reading and the terrible times he would take out his journal in broad daylight, so he’d taken to being more careful. But it wasn’t a shirtless, grubby Marine or a bothered trooper but K Company’s CO.

 

“Captain Haldane!” Web fumbled in surprise to get his to feet and salute but the man waved him off. “Sir.”

 

“As you were.” Those kind, blue eyes fell to his pillow. “What did I catch you with, Private?”

 

“Nothing of interest, sir,” Web promised quickly.

 

Haldane closed the door and made a thoughtful noise. “Webster, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes. Private David Webster, sir.”

 

“David.” He felt something go tight and warm in his gut at the way the Marine said his name. “Well, David, what kind of contraband are you hoarding?” Haldane smiled and Web found it difficult to draw a full breath. The man was handsome at the most casual times but being right under his stare, seeing that smile up close and how it wrinkled up the corner of his eyes...it made him go fuzzy all the way down to his toes. “If it’s chocolate, I must insist you share.”

 

A sudden, nervous giggle erupted out of Web’s throat before he could stop it. “We ate all the Hershey bars on the way here to keep from starving to death. Boat food is terrible.”

 

Haldane huffed in amusement and couldn’t quite hide his smile behind the curl of his fingers. “Truer words have never been spoken.”

 

Web flopped back down on the cot and hesitated only a few moments before pulling out the book he’d been reading.

 

“The Iliad?” Haldane inquired, eyebrows shooting up. “I never expected to see a copy of that here.”

 

“A marine named Leckie has a small library, he lets men rent out books. I saw it and I thought I’d read it while I could, sir.”

 

Web tried not to squirm as Haldane boldly sat on the cot beside him and took the book. He was expecting something between disinterest or ribbing but got another one of those smiles that brought light to his eyes. “I haven’t read this in years.”

 

“You’ve read it?” Web’s ears burned as he heard the surprise in his own voice. “I didn’t mean how that sounded, sir. I just didn’t expect it.”

 

“No offense taken,” Haldane assured him, flipping through the book. “I love the classics. I feel there’s always something to learn from them. How are you finding this one?”

 

“This is my third read-through,” Web confessed, watching the way those sure fingers stroked across some of the pages. “I didn’t understand a word the first time but now it’s familiar to me.”

 

“Really?” Haldane cocked his head a little, sunlight catches against the burnt gold of his hair.  “You find it that interesting?”

 

“Didn’t you?” Web snorted, instantly biting his tongue. He needed to work on his smart mouth especially in front of officers. Luckily Haldane seemed to find it amusing.

 

“I did,” Haldane replied, handing the book back over. “There’s a deep intimacy in it I find comforting.”

 

Web spread his fingers along the cover. “I find it visceral.”

 

“Oh?” Haldane questioned softly.

 

“It has something in it I’ve never had,” Web admitted, glaring at the passersby and daring them to try and eavesdrop. They were surely quite a sight. It wasn’t often a enlisted Paratrooper interacted alone with a Marine officer. It was downright unheard of. “There’s...it goes beyond comradery, it’s...it’s hard to place, sir.”

 

“Try,” Haldane insisted with a genuine curiosity that had his passion flaring up.

 

“ ‘If only no single Trojan or Achaen could escape death, and just we two alone were not destroyed, so that by ourselves we could take Troy’s sacred battlements’, ” Web recited, thumbing along where he was sure the quote rested. “A Greek named Xenophon argued that Achilles and Patroclus were ‘chaste and devoted comrades’, if you can believe that.”

 

To see Haldane roll his eyes was like a breath of fresh air. “You set your eyes on one of their interactions and even a fool could tell you they were more than that.”

 

“Exactly! That’s what Aeschines said too! They argued that even though Homer avoided giving a name to their friendship he portrayed them with enough affection to make it more than obvious,” Web gushed, closing the book and tapping his fingers along the cover. “That kind of devotion echoes through literature in all kinds of bonds. Orestes and Pylades, Damon and Pythias-”

  
“Alexander and Hephaistion,” Haldane added, eyes catching on Hillbilly Jones’ long form as he passed with a marine the boys called Burgie. Affection flushed his eyes and Web felt honored to see it.

 

“There’s something real there,” Web insisted, thumbing across the worn cover. “It’s raw and maybe not everyone can understand it but it’s something I’ve seen since I’ve been deployed.”

 

Web jumped when a hand blanketed his own. He was too afraid to look up but he could feel every callous like a brand.

 

“ _Love_.”

 

The word frizzled across his nerves and he dared to look up. Haldane still had that gentle expression without a trace of teasing. “W-What?”

 

“There’s a kind of love between men that can’t be replicated. Especially men who’ve been through combat.” It was said so simply, so easily. Like it was obvious.

 

The warmth of Haldane’s hand seeped down through his skin and he could feel it all the way up his arm. “There are many types of love, sir.”

 

A thumb brushed across his knuckles and he shivered. “But the one you’re missing is in _there_ , David.”

 

Web gaped dumbly at the captain and could feel himself turning more red by the moment. He struggled for something witty and dismissive, something clever, maybe even daringly selective - but nothing came.

 

Haldane tapped the book between his fingers before hauling himself to his feet. “I’ll leave you to it, David.”  
  
  
  
Web was grateful the man didn’t look back because he would have surely seen the way he nearly fell out of his cot chasing the ghost of his touch.

 

o0o

 

Web found himself thinking more about Captain Haldane than he had any right to. As well as the man called Hillbilly, the one who walked with the enlisted and played his guitar when the weather allowed. He was just as handsome as Haldane with clear blue eyes and a strong jaw. His hair fascinated Web to a point of obsession and he found himself scribbling half-formed poems about golden stubble and thick, blond curls.

 

Web was making nice with K Company as best he could. They were a rough group but he’d gotten in with Sledge, a new guy, pretty fast. Little by little he’d put himself around them, getting them used to his presence like one would a pack of wild animals to study.  Burgie, Jay, Sledge, Leyden, even the wild-eyed Snafu had stopped kicking up a fuss when he was near. From the outskirts of their group he’d heard rumors about the “K Company Mamas”.

 

It seemed most of the men had concluded that Ack Ack and Hillbilly were shacking up.

 

Web tried his best not to be disappointed.

 

o0o0o0o

 

“I saw it with my own eyes,” Burgie swore.

Hillbilly snorted in disbelief, plucking at his guitar in the midst of one of their few dry spells. Sledge had his legs tucked up so his chin could rest on his knees, listening and watching, but Jay and Leyden were gawking at Burgie.

 

“I swear.”

 

“Bull,” Leyden snorted. “Snafu doesn’t feel shit like that. I’ve never seen him so much as smile at a trooper.”

  
“Unless it’s one of those crazy smiles,” Jay added.

 

“He was fucking _hard_ , I’m telling you,” Burgie swore. “That medic was cleaning his feet and he was acting like he was sucking his cock.”

 

“Whatever, Burgie.”

  
“He called him Merriell, for Christ’s sake!” Burgie gestured wildly at his own feet. “That guy got him new shoes! When’s the last time you saw new shoes, Jay?”

 

That made Hillbilly pause. “Only the real flyboys got new shoes. There’s no way that Paratrooper got his hands on some.”

 

Burgie looked around and broke into a smirk, pointing to a trio of troopers walking past. “Look for yourself!”

 

The unassuming, dark haired medic was at the end of the group and didn’t seem to be listening to the conversation of his friends. He was peering at the sky under the shield of his hand and seemed to be judging the clouds like they’d suddenly fatten with rain. Not even thirty seconds behind him was Snafu, bobbing and weaving past the other soldiers and taking to hiding behind what he could every so often. He looked mad crazy but the shoes on his feet were definitely new.

 

And he was staring at just one person.

 

“Holy shit,” Jay marveled. “Is he…?”  
  
  
  
“Following him like a whipped puppy? _Yes_! I told you guys!”

 

o0o0o0o

 

“Ain’t he just the prettiest thing God ever did send to Pavuvu?”

 

Andy was enjoying the brief overcast of clouds, the breeze from the ocean, and his partner’s romantic idlings. He had a clipboard in his lap and was writing out a series of letters he’d been meaning to get to.  He’d been so busy with the 506th arriving that he hadn’t had time. Soon they’d be in combat and he didn’t want his family to worry. No more than they already were at least.

 

“How many ways are you going to say he’s beautiful?” Andy mused. “I’m sure this is the fourth time today and it’s not even supper.”

 

Eddie had a foot braced on a supply crate, leaning on his knee and watching Web eat in a circle of other Paratroopers. The Marines had taken to running the army boys out of the mess but they were tough little fucks and were adapting well. “Just ain’t seen something that pretty since I was back home and that was a  hell of a long time ago.”

 

“I’ll try not to be insulted,” Andy snorted, getting a chuckle out of his partner. “I thought you’d go for the girl next door type?”

 

“What’s not to admire in all of that? Boy’s got all that dark hair, skin clean as fresh paper, and those Goddamn eyes. Never seen a blue like that outside the ocean before,” Eddie hummed, lashes falling low. “I ain’t got the way with words you do but I’m not stupid.”

 

“It’s not your brain you’re thinking with right now,” Andy accused teasingly.

 

“My intentions are pure,” Eddie insisted.

 

“Bullshit.”

 

Eddie tilted his head forward, staring at him curiously through the overgrown curls of his hair. “Ain’t you interested at all?”

 

Andy sighed through his nose and weighed the question. He’d bonded with Eddie so deeply, so quickly that he got dizzy when he thought about it. They’d met on the battlefield several times. Eddie had saved his life and the lives of his men more than once with his quick thinking and no-bullshit attitude. Andy had put in a battlefield commission recommendation and it was a miracle he had received it. With the lack of officers in K Company, he’d been granted stay to keep him in the company instead of the traditional move-out. He had a good chemistry with the men. He was ruthless and personable. He was a damn good leader and Andy’s respect deepened into something forbidden.

 

After he’d given Eddie the news, they’d found each other back in Andy’s tent in the dead of night. Mouths fused, hands down each other’s pants with no thought of propriety. They’d been adrenaline drunk and hungry for something to remind them that they were alive. The encounter had been all impulsive passion in a mutual understanding but something had grown from that. The respect deepened and the craving for touch became more meaningful. Affection grew stronger, forming into something stronger than either of them could name. They’d tried to keep it quiet but they were attached at the hip. They were sure the men knew.

 

“It bother you?” Eddie asked, a serious furrow to his brow. He looked Andy over as he wrote out his letter and tried to read the few signs that were there. “It does.” He turned away from Web’s group and sat down on the crate with a nod. “Okay. I’ll stop.”

 

“Just like that?” Andy pushed. “You’d give up a pretty sight like that because it makes me uncomfortable?”

Eddie nodded without an ounce of hesitation. “Ain’t worth upsetting you, Andy.”

 

“Now, who said it made me uncomfortable?” Andy questioned with a serious look, taking private delight in the way Eddie puzzled over the sudden turn. He broke out into a grin and his partner gaped at him. Andy thunked his head on the post he sat against and stared at the troopers until Web looked at him. “Those eyes. You can see them like stars in all this mud and sand.”

 

Eddie broke into a surprised laugh and a couple marines shot them knowing smirks across the way. But Andy’s attention was focused solely on the ensnared Paratrooper. Web blinked at him as if unsure why he was being watched but his mouth turned in a hesitant smile all the same. He took a bite of whatever he was eating and his mouth lingered around the fattest curve of the spoon. It was one of the most obscene sights Andy had witnessed in recent memory and he wouldn’t forget it anytime soon. Andy bit his own lip and tossed a nod toward him, encouraging Eddie to look. He found just as much pleasure watching Eddie doubletake and gawk at the pretty trooper. They were stretched and full when Web looked back up again, owlish and confused as he saw them staring.

 

Without missing a beat or sharing a word, the pair shot him a wink. Web jumped so suddenly that the spoon fell right out of his mouth. His friends laughed at him and he ducked his head to hide his red cheeks.

 

“Well I’ll be,” Eddie chuckled warmly. “Didn’t think you had it in you, old man.”

 

Andy made a show of scoffing. “Just how old do you think I am?”

 

They shared a laugh and the mirth lingered in the air. Andy folded up his letters and tucked them in his shirt, putting away his pencil before standing. He pushed up off the crate and closed the small distance between them. Eddie had to tip his head down for privacy but his words were heard. “I don’t mind whatever it is you’re thinking about doing. But do it carefully.”

 

Eddie’s fingers brushed one of the buttons on his shirt and he felt the warmth through two layers. “That goes for you too, Skipper.”

 

“When am I ever not careful?”

 

“How about all the damn time?”


	2. Chapter 2

“No, no, Goddamn it, Web, stop that! You want to chop your fingers off, boy?”

 

“Excuse me, _sir_ , I’ve been in Europe for two years. Forgive me for being an amateur.”

 

“Gimme’ that and I’ll show you how it’s done.”

 

Web wasn’t sure how the easy friendship with Hillbilly Jones had developed. Or Eddie, as he preferred. Maybe it was his lack of Paratrooper sass when given an order or maybe Haldane had put in a good word for him. No matter how it came to this point, Web was relieved. The man was easy to talk to and didn’t take any shit. It was rare to find an officer so down to earth and pleasant to be around, even if they were a Marine. The guys gave him shit for talking with Eddie and Haldane so much but he didn’t mind. After spending so long on the outskirts of his own trooper friends it was nice to have some friendly faces.

 

That’s how he ended up kneeling beside Eddie on a spit of beach away from the main camp learning how to chop open a coconut with a machete. The heat had gotten to them both and they’d left their shirts in a pile on a log further up. The sun was unforgiving. Web was starting to freckle and burn in patches but he didn’t care.

 

“You want them young and green like this or you’re sure to crack a rotten one. Hold it down on a rock like this. Keep your hand back, cut at an angle all the way around. You want to carve the husk not the nut.”

 

Web nodded along and watched diligently as Eddie easily sliced the coconut up into something useful. “I just need something fresh. Fruit, vegetables, something. I think there’s rice in my blood.”

 

“Better than sand.”  
  
  
  
“That’s between my teeth.”

 

Eddie passed Web the coconut after he cracked off the top and started on a second one. Web tilted his head back and chugged. It was a strange sort of muted sweetness and it was warm. It wasn’t particularly good but it was a flavor and that’s more than he got at mess. He took out his knife and carved away bits of meat to chew away at.

 

“I bet this would be better over a fire,” Web hummed, licking flecks of white off his thumb. He tossed the mangled coconut over his shoulder and took the offered second one with a grateful noise. He gave pause. “Is this stuff good for you?”

 

“Just not too much,” Eddie advised, wiping the machete off on his pants before sheathing it. Web was too busy eyeing the line of coarse golden curls peeking out of Eddie’s low-slung dungarees to notice where his mouth was. He sputtered as he dumped the sticky water all across his chin and down his chest.

 

“Damn it!”

 

Eddie snickered at his distress and started to undo his fly. “Come on. Water’s nice this time of day.”

 

Web had long ago lost his modesty and didn’t hesitate to strip down on the beach. He’d seen hundreds of men naked, some even he’d found attractive, but he had more trouble than usual averting his eyes as Eddie stripped down beside him. He was all muscle and scars, harsh tan lines, open welts in some places from the piss poor conditions. Still Web found himself gawking at the long line of the man’s back, the swell of his thighs...

 

What he didn’t notice was Eddie stealing looks back.

 

They stood together in the ocean. Water licked at their stomachs, the waves rocking them gently as they tilted their heads back toward the sky.

 

“I love the beach,” Web sighed, taking a handful of water and raking back his hair.

 

“I love the sun,” Eddie murmured, raising his arms above his head as he stretched. “I love being warm.”

 

“I got hurt a lot over in Europe,” Web began hesitantly, watching the light play off the water. “One time I got hit in the leg and it put me in the hospital for four months. I completely missed a place called Bastogne. The guys told me it was a frozen hell. Snow up to your knees, no sun, no reprieve. They said they had to stay in foxholes all the time and it felt like they were waiting around in their own graves. It really fucked with them. This place...it’s good for them. Not as good as getting out of the war but better than that place.”

 

“Sounds miserable,” Eddie grunted.

 

“It’s miserable everywhere. Now it’s nothing but sweat and gunk and we’ve got that new kind of trench foot. Your company told me it’s either dry heat or hot rain here. I don’t know how I’ll do when I get back home. I practically grew up in Connecticut and Cambridge is in Massachusetts so I’m more used to heavy autumns and springs. I miss all the trees.” He shut his mouth with a clack. He was always picked on for his babbling and he didn’t want to annoy Eddie. He gawked out at the water, struggling to save the moment. He missed Eddie’s fond smile and expectant look.

 

Finally Web perked up and when he looked to Eddie the lieutenant was washing the mud from his shoulder instead of ogling. “Where did you grow up, sir?”

 

Eddie felt a pang of sympathy for Web. If he wasn’t so busy basking in his presence he would’ve felt guilty for taking advantage of the attention starved young man. “It’s lots of woods back home too. I miss it a little.”

 

“How long has it been?” Web asked, hands riding the top of the waves. “Eugene calls you the Old Breed.”

 

“Little Sledgehammer,” Eddie huffed, lips turning up at the corners. It wasn’t often he got to talk about himself. Hell, it wasn’t often someone asked. “I was an enlisted man for years. I was a Sea Going Marine.”

 

“Battleships, huh?” Web considered. “That’d be interesting.”

 

A small fish swam beneath Eddie’s hand and he wiggled his fingers to scare it off. “That’s a word for it, I suppose.”

 

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do when it’s all over?”

 

That was a loaded question if he’d ever heard one. Eddie tried not to bulk at the question as he so often had in the past. Web wasn’t trying to pry, he could feel that in every word he spoke. His mouth ran away with him and he stepped over the line many times as enlisted to officer, but Eddie liked that. “Bad luck to be talking like that.”

 

“That’s what all the guys were asking on the way over,” Web explained. “We all thought we were done but a lot of us didn’t have enough points to go home. Even the ones who did stayed.”

 

Eddie’s eyes went wide in honest surprise.

 

“I know, crazy,” Web tisked. “We’ve been on the field for years together. A lot of them trained together back in the states. It was almost over. And now we’re here with you stinking Marines.”  

 

Web’s cocky grin was washed away as a particularly hard wave caught him by surprise and knocked him down. Eddie, who had seen it coming and braced himself, laughed openly as the other flailed wildly and kicked up water.

 

“Serves you right, jumper!” Eddie cackled, splashing him in the face for good measure once he’d surfaced. Web grabbed a handful of sand on the way up and chucked it, whooping in victory as it thudded wetly against the Marine’s chest.

 

At the start of the beach and wedged between two palm trees, Liebgott leaned and smoked as he watched the scene unfold. It had been a long time since he’d heard Webster laugh so loudly. He was naked in more ways than one with Hillbilly Jones. It was rare Webster was so open with anyone outside Easy and it was kind of nice to watch him horse around with someone who made him smile that big. Even if it was a Marine officer.

 

“Good for you, Web,” he murmured, smoke hitting the air.  

 

He didn’t hear Haldane approach until he was already behind him. “Can I help you, trooper?”

 

Liebgott sucked the taste of smoke from his teeth and turned to cast a critical eye over the captain. From what he’d seen and heard, Haldane was as good a man as Winters. Just as trustworthy and qualified to lead. Still, he wasn’t Liebgott’s CO and he didn’t owe him more than borderline respect until he proved otherwise. “No, sir. Guess it’s just good to see Web making friends.”  


Haldane glanced toward the beach and there was something strange in his gaze. “Is that a rare occurrence?”

 

Liebgott shrugged. “He just rubs people the wrong way is all. No more than the rest of us, I guess. He’s all educated.” He shot a sharp grn at the man. “Like you, sir.”

  
  
“A Harvard man.”

 

Liebgott wondered how the Marine had found out but didn’t want to ask. “Some of these guys hate that. Your fresh crop of ground pounders were giving him hell the whole way here. Not that he complained or didn’t give right back.”

 

“Which men?” Haldane bit out.

 

Liebgott took a long drag off his smoke and wondered if the rumor about Haldane and Web talking in private so often was true. From the way the man puffed up like a territorial cat he thought so. “I’m sure he’ll say something if it becomes a problem.”

 

Liebgott went to walk away, make his grand exit, but Haldane was quick. He was snatched by the elbow and a foot against his own stopped him. He scowled down at the inferior Marine shoe but didn’t let the expression linger when he raised his head back up. “If my men are mistreating him, I want to know.”

 

“Paratroopers take care of their own, _sir_.” He couldn’t stop the bite that escaped him. “But if you and Hillbilly want to keep an extra eye on Web, we don’t mind.”

 

Andy swallowed down a curse as the sleek Paratrooper slid right out from under his palm. He escaped without a backward glance. “Smug brat.”

 

Andy’s irritation melted as he watched Web and Eddie try to dunk one another in the waves. He smiled to himself and thought. _This could work._

 

o0o0o0o

 

Webster wandered by the officers tents on his way to the latrine. He knew he was veering toward Haldane’s tent but it had been a long day of retraining and he needed something. Seeing Andy or catching a scrap of his smooth, easy voice through the flaps. The man possessed an even tone and a strength that commanded respect. He reminded him so much of Winters and he’d follow either man into combat without question. He wasn’t as terrifying as Speirs but that man had warmed up to them considerably since Haganeau. Speirs and Haldane were both smart and their anger was akin to thunder in the distance, a rolling storm you just knew was coming. They were opposite and so alike. So far the COs had made a good team in retraining Easy Company to fight the Japanese.

 

Except Andy’s touch was somehow soft and sure, and when he spoke it was if Web was the only person on earth.

 

Web tripped over his boots at the gentle sound of a guitar. It was coming from Andy’s tent. _And since when was it ‘Andy’ so often?_ He ducked between the tents and put his ear up to it. Definitely guitar. There was a small tear in the corner of the tent and he dared to peer inside. He spotted Andy’s relaxed form right off. The Marine was spread out in his cot with his hands behind his head, lashes fanning across his cheeks as he appeared to doze.

 

Web bit back a noise as he saw it was Eddie playing the guitar. His head was bowed over the instrument and his long fingers plucked away. They looked at peace together, so _easy_. He could’ve stayed there the rest of the night and observed the quiet scene. But Eddie eventually stopped and set his guitar on the desk. He got up, stretched, and ambled over to the cot.

 

He had to bite the side of his fist to keep quiet when Eddie leaned down and brushed his mouth against Andy’s own. It was a tender exchange without a doubt, born of lovers and speaking volumes. Web winced as his teeth bit hard grooves into his skin and his heart jumped up against the back of his tongue. There was only one thought in his stunned mind and he let it flitter unchecked across the forefront of his mind.

 

_If that were me._

 

Andy’s hand came up and grabbed Eddie by the collar, dragging him closer to deepen the kiss. Tan fingers threaded through unruly curls and that’s when Web knew he had to leave. He was intruding on something private and to linger any longer was a breach of trust. It was hard to drag himself away but he had to or he knew he’d give himself away.

 

That night Web was plagued with a particularly soft fantasy. He thrashed in his sleep and dug his nails into the cot as he dreamed of two mouths upon him. Grazing his neck with blunt teeth, taking his lips, and licking deep as if it were their _right_. The scrape of stubble only left him burning for more.

 

o0o0o0o

 

It was pouring rain when Web burst into Andy’s tent. “Sir, I’m sorry, it’s just _wild_ out there-”

 

“You’re fine,” Andy assured easily, cranking out something on his typewriter.

 

Web smile gratefully and shook himself a little near the flap. The bag he’d been protecting was up under his shirts and he hoped the rain hadn’t ruined it already. “I’ve got something for you.”

 

“For me?” Andy inquired, finishing off his sentence before turning to look at him properly. The man’s smile warmed him all the way through. “You’re dripping.”

 

“Like I mentioned, if you remember, it’s raining,” Web countered, digging the smaller wrapped bundle out from under his shirt.

 

“I deserve that,” Andy relented with a small chuckle, holding out his hand. Web walked over and their fingers brushed with the handoff. “From Speirs?”

 

“Yes, sir.” He nodded and glanced briefly at the solid trunk poorly hidden beneath a tarp. “Sir, I was wondering if there was somewhere dry I could put something? I don’t have a trunk and neither do the other troopers. And none of the tents are reliable, I don’t trust, uh…”

 

The officer raised a brow at him. “Marines?”

 

“Nothing against you, sir,” Web rushed to smooth over. “Or your men! I’ve just known my guys for years. I trust them with everything. Including this.”

 

That caught Andy’s full attention. He reclined in his chair and laced his fingers in his lap, knees sprawling casually. “What do you have there?”

 

“It’s...my journal and letters,” Web confessed, pulling out the rucksack he’d stuffed them in. It was thankfully more dry than he’d anticipated. “It didn’t rain like this a lot back in Europe and when it did we at least had a barn or somewhere I could stash it. It’s been two days of this rain, sir. I’m worried it’s going to get ruined.”

 

“A fair worry,” Andy conceded, gesturing to his own trunk. “Stash it here. It’s a solid chest. I have oilcloth you can wrap it in.”

  
  
Web swallowed nervously. “Sir, I couldn’t.”

 

“It’s 'Andy' while we’re alone.” The low, intimate tone made him shiver. Andy held out his hands and Web found himself obediently handing the bag over. He shuffled as Andy undid the bag and pulled out his beloved journal with the letters tied inside it. He weighed it in his palm with an approving hum. “This is nice. It’s well loved.”

 

Web held his breath and waited for Andy to thumb through it but he didn’t. The man smiled at him and the corner of his eyes crinkled up. It stole his breath. “I’ll take care of it, David. It’ll be safe here. Eddie keeps his guitar in there, you know. If he trusts it you, should too.”

 

“I’ve seen him love on that guitar. I think my journal will be safe, sir,” Web chuckled in relief. He bit at the side of his lip as fear bubbled up just behind the gratitude. “Andy, can I ask a favor?”

 

“Anything.” And he believed him.

 

“Don’t read it?” he begged, fingers twisting in his wet sleeve.

 

Andy held up a hand and he closed his mouth tight. “I would never breach your trust like that, David. I can promise you I won’t read a word you don’t willingly show me.”

 

“Thank you,” Web whispered, breathless as something like excitement tingled through his fingers. He could feel goosebumps crop up along his ribs.

 

Andy nodded, glad his word was taken. He took the journal and its bound letters to the trunk. He opened it up and found a square of unused oilcloth to wrap it all in. He secured it and tucked it beneath Eddie’s guitar. “Come whenever you want to write or deem the weather stable enough to take it back. I’ll see about getting you a trunk.”

 

“No!” Web burst, quickly quieting down. “That’s too much, sir.”  
  
  
  
“I’d like to do it,” Andy insisted, lips turning up again to show off the hint of a dimple. “For you, David.”

 

Web was sure if the man said his name again like that he was going to have a very obvious problem in his wet ODs. He ducked his head to hide any blush that had cropped up. “Okay.”

 

“Okay,” Andy agreed. He felt like he’d won something.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Eddie didn’t bother to call out or tap Andy’s tent before he entered, throwing the flap shut behind him. “Hey, do…”

 

He trailed off as wide, too blue eyes shot up to meet him. _Web_. It was shock to see him in Andy’s tent in the middle of the night especially so relaxed. Web was cross legged on the cot, shirt open and a leather-bound journal cradled in his lap as he wrote. It was such an out-of-place sight but what made him gape was that his boots were unlaced and tucked beneath the cot. It was unheard of for a Paratrooper to remove his beloved boots. It was a source of pride, like flouncing their pants.

 

And Andy was at his desk writing a letter like it was the most normal occurrence to have a pretty boy all to himself.

 

“Isn’t this a fair sight. Boys,” Eddie greeted, gesturing to the trunk. “Mind if I fiddle around?”

 

Andy flashed him a smile. “We don’t mind. Do we, David?

 

Web shook his head with a smile and Eddie’s chest went tight with affection. He winked at the trooper as he grabbed a spare blanket and toweled himself dry, making sure his hands weren’t dripping before he got into the trunk. He had a dozen sarcastic remarks ready but he let them go to enjoy the quiet of the rain with the pair.

 

The night wrapped around them. The world grew small and warm as pencil scratched paper and music filled the tent. They didn’t talk, they didn’t need to. It was a rare moment of peace.

 

Web was on the verge of dozing from how comfortable he felt. His pencil was sluggish as were his thoughts. He hadn’t known the officers very long but in his dreamstate he decided he trusted them just as much as any Toccoa man.

 

“I’d like to visit Massachusetts,” Web admitted on the tail end of a yawn.

 

Eddie grinned in Andy’s direction. “I would too.”

 

Andy leaned back in his chair and pretended to consider it. “Well, boys, I think that can be arranged. Provided you keep your noses clean and not get into any trouble while we’re here.”

 

“Haven’t you heard?” Web snorted. “I’m a Paratrooper. It’s our job to jump into trouble.”

 

“He’s got you there, Andy.”

 

“Smartasses.”

 

o0o0o0o

 

It was raining again. It was always rain or mouth-drying heat.

 

Eddie often hid in Andy’s tent when he needed a quiet moment to himself. He didn’t expect Web to show up, not outside a daydream at least. He surely didn’t expect the trooper to be sporting a bruised cheek and busted lip.

 

“Shit, Web, get in here,” Eddie ordered. He took the man by the arm and brought him inside, closing the tent flaps with a glare out into the dark of the camp. He didn’t see anyone but Web didn’t do this to himself. He pointed to Andy’s cot. “Sit.”

 

“I’m going to get it wet.”

 

Eddie snagged an extra blanket and folded it over, laying it on the cot. “There. _Sit_. Get out of that jacket.” He waited until Web obeyed before he started searching for a canteen and a cloth. “What the hell happened?”

 

Web’s lips were pursed, gaze on the ground. Eddie tisked and kicked him in the shin. “Hey, boy, I’m talking to you!” Those eyes shot up and they were _piercing_. “You can stare at me all you want, Web, but you’re gonna tell me who did this.”

 

“I was bringing this from Major Winters.” Web pulled some folded orders out of his jacket and slapped chucked them on the desk a few feet away. “You know those asshole Marines that were giving me hell?”

 

Eddie’s teeth were already itching for a fight as he poured clean water onto the cleanest rag he could find.

 

“They stepped up their game,” Web sighed, rubbing his jaw. “They got me on the way across camp. Those bastards.” He spat blood into the dirt. “They’re always ragging on me about my books and my journal and the way I fucking _talk_. We got into it. Some of the guys jumped in and helped me, it could’ve been a lot worse. Nixon broke it up.”

 

Eddie kicked Web’s legs apart before dropping to a knee between them. He tucked a thumb under Web’s chin with heart wrenching gentleness as he dabbed at his bloody mouth with the rag. Damp, dark hair curled across his forehead and clung to his temples. He looked young in just his sleeveless shirt with a couple bruises threatening to bloom on his jaw and shoulder.

 

“You should see the other guys,” Web joked, wincing when the rag pressed hard on his busted lip.

 

“They ain’t got a right to put their hands on you,” Eddie stated firmly, cleaning up the blood that had stained his throat. “Give me some names. Andy will set them straight.”

 

“Is ‘Andy’ going to defend my honor?” Web teased weakly, feeling embarrassed and a little sick. He could feel a spiral of self-deprecation coming on and was on the verge of getting lost when Eddie cradled his jaw. His palm was rough but his fingers were gentle as he cleaned the dirt from his bruising cheek.

 

“He would,” Eddie promised. “To be honest with you, I wanna go thrash them right now.”

 

“Thank you.” Web dared to lean into the touch and it emboldened him. Before he could think too much about it he spoke up. “Are you going to kiss it better, sir?”

 

Web didn’t flinch as Eddie stared hard into his face, searching it for something. Sincerity, maybe, or a glimmer of a trick. They watched one another, hardly blinking as they tried to decide how this moment would play out. Eddie was the first to move. He raised his hand slow enough to be batted away and his fingers curled in Web’s hair, wet locks clinging to his skin like they didn’t want to let go. With the utmost careful touch, he urged the trooper forward and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek where the mark was forming.

 

Web shuddered and went boneless. He laid a hand on Eddie’s chest and started to slump against him, hoping whatever was happening was real. Featherlight kisses trailed down his jaw but they grew firmer as the moment started to swell. Goosebumps fanned across his throat and his heart tripped over itself as their lips touched. Web choked down a whimper as their mouths slid together completely. He let Eddie tip his head to the side and released a shaky sigh as he gave over control. He wanted to, _needed_ to, especially when Eddie took the reins so well.  

 

Suddenly couldn’t remember the face of any other person he’d ever kissed and he wasn’t sure what that meant.  

 

Eddie felt dizzy as he finally tasted the mouth he’d been daydreaming about for so long. The one that nervously babbled, the one that was chewed on when Web was lost in thought, the one that said his name quietly like a secret. He moved painfully slow, praying he wouldn’t destroy the fragile spell of the tent. He feared any moment David would realize just what was happening and sock him, run off into the night, and then it would all be over.  

 

He only broke the kiss when he realized he could feel Web shivering under his fingertips. “You’re shuddering, darlin’.”

 

Web snagged the front of his shirt when he leaned back. “Don’t.”

 

Eddie frowned, glancing down at the white-knuckle grip.

 

“I’m fine,” Web promised quickly, words coming out in a rush. “It’s just been a long time since someone...since I’ve let...since I’ve been kissed.”

 

Eddie thumbed at his cheek. “May I do it again?”

 

“You know, you’re pretty polite for a Marine.”

 

Their next kiss was smooth. They got over the nervous knots in their throats, the unsure pressure behind their ribs, and put their hearts into it. Eddie’s tongue found the seam of his lips and it was allowed with the sweetest sigh. They lost themselves in the slick slide of their kiss, tasting faintly of copper and clean water. Their chests flushed with heat and they pressed closer, fingers mapping the rough edges of where uniform met skin.

 

Web didn’t realize he was fisting the Marine’s shirt to keep him in place until Eddie chuckled. The man bumped their foreheads and rubbed their noses together in a way that made him laugh. “Where do you think I’m going, Web?”

 

“Nowhere,” Web stuttered out, tongue feeling heavy behind his teeth. “I - sorry.”

 

“Don’t be,” Eddie soothed, pushing into his touch. “I like it. Keep me close.”

 

They moved into another kiss when someone spoke up. “You didn’t invite me and in _my_ tent? That’s rude, boys.”  

 

Web jumped and pushed Eddie away as he heard the captain. The man was simply drying himself off with the spare blanket. “A-Andy, we were just - uh, we, shit.” He looked to Eddie for some sort of support but the man look nonplussed which only confused him more. His eyes flicked between them and as he tried to read the situation both men were just watching him with matching, easy smiles.

 

Andy walked over and laid a hand between Eddie’s shoulders, the other thumbing over Web’s swollen lip. “You walk around this camp with your mouth open like you’re absolutely taken by everything around you. Did you know that, David?”

 

“I get that a lot,” Web fumbled, torn between asking what was going on and wrapping his lips around the man’s thumb to show him what his mouth could do. “I don’t do it on purpose.”

 

“I think it’s sweet,” Andy crooned. “I bet it brings all sorts of unwanted attention. These men haven’t seen a mouth so fine since Melbourne.”

 

“Are you going to write a damn sonnet about his mouth or are you going to kiss him?” Eddie challenged, loving the way the trooper was falling into the moment.

 

“David,” Andy began lowly, mouth going dry at the way Web shivered. “Can I kiss you?”

 

“Please.” The word was barely a whisper beneath the sound of pounding rain on canvas. Web reached out blindly and his fingers curled in Eddie’s shirt again. The Marine hummed and blanketed his hand reassuringly.

 

“You heard him, Skipper.”

 

Andy’s kiss was just like the rest of him. Firm, sure, it swept him away. Web could count the number of times he’d swooned in his life on one hand and this was surely one of them. He clung to Eddie’s shirt even as he pushed up into Andy’s mouth. A pathetically needy noise left him as the Marine pulled back.

 

“We should get this trooper out of his wet clothes,” Andy ordered. His voice was wrecked and Web felt a flutter of pride.

 

Eddie hooked a finger in Andy’s dog tags and pulled him into a biting kiss that had their third panting in anticipation. “Go tie the flaps.”

 

o0o

 

The rain allowed them to carve out a small part of the world for themselves. The cot didn’t nearly hold the three of them and it groaned under the weight of two but they made use of the desk, the ground, the strength of one another. They stripped each other as far as they would dare, leaving their pants on in mind of unexpected visitors. Not that they could explain away their actions. Hell, they couldn’t explain it even to themselves.

 

Eddie’s broad palms and long fingers were perfect to stroke, to cradle. He carded those sure fingers through their hair and led them into deep kisses that stole their breaths. He touched every inch of them he could. He knew already where to pinch and scrape his nails on Andy to make him gasp and he took his time learning them on Web as well. He surprised the trooper when he let Andy between his legs to take control but was beautiful in his surrender.

 

Web surprised them both in how generous he was with his mouth. He couldn’t seem to stop kissing and even then he couldn’t part his lips from their skin. He mapped the long line of their jaws and the hollows of their throat, not bold enough to leave a mark but yearning to. He sent them into shock when he unbuttoned their flies and took their straining flesh between his lips. Andy babbled that they hadn’t showered and that he should wait, give them a minute to clean up - but Web didn’t want to waste a second of this rare privacy. Even Eddie, so persuasive, couldn’t talk Web out of something once he’d set his mind to it. Though he did get Web to moan particularly sweet when he put the trooper on the desk and wrapped a hand around his cock.

 

Andy was their anchor. He pulled them both back when their passions overtook them, he calmed Eddie’s bites and hushed Web’s needy sounds. He kissed them both slow and deep like they deserved even as he took them apart with his fingers. He showed Web how good Eddie looked on the brink of climax with his back bowed against the cot, hands clawing uselessly at the old blanket. He drugged Web with pleasure, teasing his sensitive nipples and toying with the head of his cock, until the trooper couldn’t do anything but writhe.

 

They traded kisses over one another’s shoulders. Fingers bumped into one another as they explored each other, heads nearly colliding a few times. But most importantly there was laughter. Soft chuckles and a few indignant squawks as asses were playfully grabbed. Their kisses were interrupted by smiles. Though they gave into desire, they were just as greedy to get their hands in each other’s hair and over thudding hearts. And when they finished there were two solid bodies to hold their exhausted third until the tremors passed.

 

“You okay, Web?” Eddie murmured in the boy’s ear as the cum started to dry across his hairy belly.

 

Web had to swallow a few times before he spoke. “David.”

 

Andy smiled against the trooper’s shoulder and rubbed his side.

 

Eddie frowned a little, “I, uh…”

 

Web tipped his head up and blinded him with his smile, cheeks still flush and eyes sparkling in the low lamp light. “Call me David.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the amazing response to this silly rarepair. I'm absolutely overjoyed by how much some of you are enjoying it. I can't thank you enough. This is our big angst chap so get ready. There's gonna be two epilogues - one for Snafroe and the other for AndyEddieWeb. I hope you like it! (well, you're not gonna like it...)

Eugene found himself adapting faster than he expected to the sweltering heat and humid rain of the Pacific. Paratroopers had come onto the beach in full uniform but nowadays they were looking more and more like the Marines. Grimey, half clothed, some burning and freckling while others like Liebgott tanned to a golden brown. Looking at his own hands he could see his color returning. It reminded him of how he’d looked back at home in Louisiana.

 

From his spot beneath the palms he could see the little love story play out on the beach. K Company’s CO and the mortar squad lieutenant were instructing Easy’s own David Webster in combat within the shallows of the ocean. All three men were already soaked but there were smiles on their faces. Haldane gave instructions, corrected stances, but overall seemed content to watch the pair wrestle around.

 

“Use his movements against him. Use his own weight!”

 

Eugene lit a smoke and grinned around the butt as David finally got a grip on Jones and managed to toss him over his shoulder into the water. There was a great splash and Haldane clapped in victory.

 

“Yes! Just like that, David.”

 

Eugene chuckled to himself at the way David glowed under the praise. He took a long, slow drag off his smoke and caught the shadow that seemed to be in the corner of his eyes nowadays. At first he thought it was a bit of mania setting in. He’d managed to shake the worst of it in Bastogne but he’d feared the spooks had caught up to him in this place. It wasn’t too hard to give his shadow a face and a name once he knew what to look for.

 

“You enjoying the show?” Eugene asked the well hidden man. A palm frond cracked under a shoe and then Snafu emerged. “Least come sit down properly.”

 

Snafu hesitated and those quicksilver eyes darted all over the beach. There were some more Marines way further down but otherwise it was just the happy threesome down in the shallows. They weren’t paying a lick of attention to them and Eugene patted the sand next to him. Snafu with his broken sandals and thick layer of grime, his gangly limbs, his too wide mouth. The man who followed him like he thought he was being sneaky.  Stubborn and foul mouthed as anything but had an undercurrent of something alluring to him. He seemed to have a strange fondness for Eugene and he found himself returning the affection. Even if he was dancing around it.

 

Snafu sat and Eugene passed him the smoke. The Marine looked hesitant but still wrapped his lips around it. “There something you want, Merriell?”

 

“From you? Nothin’, ” Snafu lied outright, greedily taking the smoke for himself.

 

“I think I know what it is,” Eugene hummed, being quick to take it back. Snafu blinked at his pinched fingers were it used to be. “Probably just been a while and you’re out of practice.”

  
“What are you going on about?” Snafu drawled, face carefully neutral. But those eyes gave him away. “Out of practice with what?”

 

“Flirting with someone like you give a damn about them,” Eugene accused with a teasing grin that had Snafu’s eyes going all wide like he was about to choked on his own spit. “I bet it’s been pretty girls for a while, huh? Shock them with something vulgar and laugh when they run away? Or even better, when they stay, and you get to do what you want.”

 

“Fuckin’ witch,” Snafu spat, feet skidding in the sand in his haste to get up.

 

Eugene realized he’d hit too close to him and scared the man. He snagged Snafu by the elbow and it was a testament to just how right he was when the man didn’t sock him in the jaw. He curled his arm around Snafu’s waist and dragged him into his side. The Marine’s confusion gave him the opening he needed to lay a kiss on his mouth. He was, for once, silent and slack and that made it all the easier to let the touch linger. It wasn’t anything to write home about but it gave Eugene a few flickers of emotion he’d sworn he’d forgotten how to feel.

 

Snafu plopped limply down beside him and gaped as he pulled away. “I…”

 

“Don’t think too hard, Mer,” Eugene teased, stubbing the cigarette out in the sand. “You might pull something.”

 

Snafu was quiet for some time. Eugene lit up another smoke just for something to do with his hands and waited on the Marine to make the next move. He felt Snafu touch his elbow and he inclined his head to show he was listening.

 

“Do that again.” It was a demand that was hollow with awe.

 

“Ask nicely.”

 

“Dare you.”

o0o

 

The orders to ship out for combat came so swiftly they barely had time to get their things together. Easy and K scrambled to get what little they owned and pack their gear, weapons, ammo, scrambling for extra rations to stuff away. In the mad frenzy of bodies, David got himself tugged behind one of the larger tents and kissed square on the mouth.

 

“Stay close and low,” Andy urged, barely pulling away enough to speak. “Eddie’s going to be a mother hen so get used to him popping around. Check in if you can.”

 

David flushed under the attention. “Don’t worry about me, Skipper.”

 

“I’m going to worry no matter what, David. I just...” Andy laced their fingers together, his other hand coming up to cup the back of his head. David leaned into the touch like a cat and it made the officer smile. He rubbed dark curls between his fingers. “It’s silly.”

 

“Tell me?” David begged quietly, heart fluttering at the loving caress.

 

“I wanted to touch your hair and see your eyes up close one more time,” Andy confessed, cheeks pink from something other than the sun.

 

Those flutters turned into a trip-up. “It’s not the last time.”

 

“Still, I needed the fresh memory.” Andy glanced at each end of the tent and listened for anyone too close. Gathering his courage, he stole one more kiss. David chased after him to drink in the touch, lingering on the glide and pressure and trying to memorize the captain’s kiss. “Be careful.”

 

“You too, Andy.”

 

o0o

 

Easy could march. Since day one, marching and running had been pounded into them until they were doing it in their dreams. They’d had blisters and bleeding and bruises and stints all the way up to their asses before. Marching was something they could deal with even if it was in the heat. Some of their squads overlapped with K and tentative, low chatter was made as the anticipation of battle started to make their skin itch. A lot of the riflemen would end up being shoulder to shoulder and they couldn’t stay at odds forever if they hoped to survive.

 

David was getting lost in the steady thump of the march when he caught sight of Eddie further up. He had climbed up on a set of rocks to look ahead, keeping an eye on his boys, but their gazes met. He flashed the lieutenant a flirty smile and got a grin in return. It was a brief exchange but it lightened his heart.

 

But someone else saw it.

 

“So, Professor,” Cobb called a few rows behind him, voice managing to cut above all their heads. “You fucking all of K Company or just the officers?”

 

Up ahead, a few members of K Company visibly bristled. Burgie, Sledge, Jay, the ones who were getting used to (and wouldn’t admit it but sort of enjoyed) David’s presence. Snafu turned on his heels and bared his teeth in a hiss, eyes darting around to find the source of the voice.

 

“Hey, here’s an idea - why don’t you shut the fuck up?” Toye snapped. David kept walking, refusing to give Cobb the satisfaction. Hoobler moved in on his right with a protective, pissed off glare.

 

Cobb shared a salacious grin with one of the new recruits he’d managed to poison. “I just don’t think it’s fair, is all.”

 

Lipton’s voice came from further up where he was discussing the ammo situation with Shames. “Quiet down back there!”

 

“Web was a trooper first,” Cobb continued, oblivious to the nasty scowls starting to appear on Easy and K’s faces. “He was too good for us back in Holland, Normandy, Eagle’s Nest. A real uptight goody-two-shoes.”

 

The snickering was starting to get to David and he hurried his steps. Hoob grabbed at his arm and tried to stop him. “Forget him, Web.”

 

“I’m just saying that if he’s sucking Marine cock for free, we should get some!”

 

David could feel his face burning in embarrassment and he hoped his splotchy tan and new freckles did something to cover it up. Surprisingly it was Snafu who tried to lunge first but Sledge quickly grabbed him around the waist, barking his name and to stop. But there was no one to stop Liebgott or Guarnere. The pair moved too fast for either Shames or Lipton to get there first. David turned in time to see Liebgott deck Cobb square in the jaw. The trooper staggered but Guarnere picked him up by the collar and slammed him down into the soft dirt. They hovered over him like hungry jackals.

 

“Shut your Goddamn mouth!” Guarnere barked in his face, shaking him.

 

“What Web does is none of your fucking business,” Liebgott hissed.  

 

“Ah, guys, leave him alone,” Tab groused boredly as he stepped around them, smoke hanging from between his lips. “He’s just jealous ‘cause Web turned him down.”

 

“As is his right,” Grant drawled, following in the other sergeant’s footsteps. He took Tab’s smoke and took a draw. “Cobb is ugly as sin.”

 

“ _Damn_ fuckin ugly,” Tab agrees.

 

David turned back and bit his lip to try to keep from smiling. He looked up and Snafu seemed appeased by the justice, turning back on one boot. Sledge looked relieved that it wasn’t going to end in a brawl.

 

Lipton passed David with his mouth drawn in a tight line, arms crossed and shaking his head. “Let’s keep it moving, boys.”

 

Cobb was holding his bleeding mouth and looking pleadingly at the First Sergeant. “Lip!”

  
  
“Shut up, Cobb, I don’t want to hear it.”

 

“Web’s the one-”

 

Lipton’s glares were usually more to inspire disappointment like a scolding mother but this look screamed of barely contained ire. “I don’t give a _damn_ what you boys do in your foxholes but if I catch you mouthing off again, I’m not going to stop them.”

 

“Yeah.” Guarnere’s grin was all teeth. “A lot of shit can happen behind some of these trees.”

 

“Grenades and all that,” Liebgott added as he helped haul Cobb to his feet by the collar.

 

“We misplace ammo all the time.” The call shockingly came from Sledge, who was looking over his shoulder and getting a proud grin from Snafu. David marveled at the usually quiet Southern man’s cheek. “And who knows where it ends up?”

 

“Is it my boys kicking up all this racket?”

 

Easy froze up when they heard Speirs’ voice cutting through the crowd of Marines and troopers. Through those bodies David could see a glimpse of Haldane as well.

 

“Afraid so, Captain.”

 

Luz pointedly cleared his throat before piping up. “Let’s get this Goddamn platoon on the move!”

 

Easy broke into laughter and Liebgott shoved Cobb forward to get him moving.

 

David shared a small smile with Andy and got a wink that made his knees quiver. He knew his company had his back.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Snafu was dozing and watching Sledge count the stars when they heard the whimpering from the next set of foxholes over. It was in Easy’s territory but they were all laced together, flowing over one another as they tried to live through the night under the Japs’ noses. “What’s that?”

 

The whimpering turned into a high pitched whine. Sledge squinted through the shadows and saw a sprawled man starting to thrash. “Sounds like some guy having a nightmare.”

 

“He better shut up before every Nip on this island knows we’re here,” Snafu growled, sitting up and watching some of the troopers rouse.

 

Sledge looked for Easy’s leaders, Speirs or Lip or even Winters, but there were only sergeants around. Martin’s order came down the line through the quiet of the night. “Shut that man up.”

 

A range of voices came from the hunched figures.

 

“Shut the fuck up, Web!”

 

“Christ, Webster!”

 

Burgie sat up in surprise as the man started to scream when his friends grabbed him.

 

“No! _No_!”

 

“Shut him up!”

 

“Where’s Doc? Stick him with fucking morphine!”

 

“Web, it’s _us_. Calm down.”

 

Snafu clenched his teeth and Sledge sucked in a sharp breath when they realized it was David caught in a nightmare. He fought against his friends, unseeing, scratching at their faces and fingers. He spoke but it sounded like tongues to them.

 

“ _Hilf mir! Lass mich los!_ ”

 

“That’s German,” Jay stated, fists curled tight around his gun. “He must be back in Europe.”

 

“Well ship him back here and tell him to shut the fuck up,” Snafu grit out.

 

“Get Lieb or something before he loses his fucking mind,” they heard Hoobler gripe, barely managing to keep a hold of David’s legs.

 

Alley and Liebgott jumped out of their holes down the line, ran, and dived on David the second the man ripped away from the others. They tackled him to the ground while Liebgott tried to talk him down in that same strange language. When that didn’t work he started shaking David, smacking his cheek to try and jolt him back to the real world. But still he kicked and screamed.

 

No one expected Eddie to run through both companies. His footsteps were so light as he picked between foxholes and bodies to get to the screaming trooper.

 

“What the hell is going on?” Eddie demanded between his teeth as he dropped beside Alley and Liebgott, catching David’s hand before it could claw into his friend’s face.

 

“He’s having a nightmare, sir,” Liebgott grunted, barely missing a knee to the groin. “He’s babbling about Germans and shit. I smacked him twice already and he won’t wake up.”

 

Eddie looked around at the anxious men and knew he had to move fast. Some of his vets in particular looked ready to jump in and shut David up for good. They’d get spotted for sure with David wailing like this and he was fighting all three of them like they were Japs themselves. He thought briefly of what Andy would do, what Speirs would do if he caught them, what his men were going to do if they didn’t quiet David down.

 

“Move!” Eddie ordered sharply, shoving the troopers away. “Goddamn it, _move_.”

 

“Sir-”

 

“He’s going to-”

 

Alley and Liebgott shut their mouths at the glare the lieutenant cast them. Eddie put aside his helmet and rifle and climbed onto David without hesitation. He straddled the trooper and wondered for just a second how much trouble he could get into for this. He grabbed a fistful of dark hair and the curve of the man’s shoulder and jerked him up into a solid kiss. David screamed against his mouth but he swallowed them, clutching him tight and cutting off the sound as best he could. David jerked against him and kicked uselessly, fingers sleep-dumb and useless on his arms. He prayed that the kiss touched David within the dream and dragged him back out. The last thing he wanted was someone getting the bright idea to take a shovel to his head.

 

A flare went off overhead. David’s woke and those watching could see the flare reflecting white hot in his eyes. He arched up hard against Eddie, taunt and wracked with shudders, and then fell limp back into the dirt. The flare fizzled out and dark lashes fell in a delicate fan against flushed cheeks.

 

Eddie felt the drastic change in David and sighed in relief. He softened his kiss and smoothed his palm down to cradle the man’s jaw and the back of his head. He felt David sigh and he thumbed his pulse to feel it calm. He gentled David as best he could with just his touch and only broke the kiss when he was sure he was fully awake. It was dark but he could make out the glisten of David’s eyes when they opened.

 

“Eddie?” David husked, voice raw from screaming. He ripped himself away from the after-images of his nightmares and forced himself back into the world around him. He was in a foxhole, _his_ foxhole. His helmet and gun were gone. He could see Alley, Liebgott, Hoob, and some others hovering in the corner of his vision but it was Eddie above him. Eddie with those damn burnt gold curls and his earnest gaze. He looked worried.

 

“Where did you go?” Eddie breathed, thumbing beneath damp eyes.

 

David’s mouth moved numbly, words sticking somewhere deep inside him. He remembered the mud. Grasping hands trying to rip him apart and angry voices in his ear shouting about how they were going to bleed him dry. It had been rain threatening to drown him and German’s trying to claw into his skin. And in the distance he’d been sure Andy and Eddie had been watching, helpless, their own deaths hovering just out of reach.

 

“Don’t ask me that,” he pleaded, blinking hard to clear his mind. “I’m...I’m fine. Why is everyone looking at me?”

 

Of course it was Liebgott who rolled his eyes. “Christ, Web. Do you mean the nightmare or the lieutenant here waking you like Sleeping Beauty?”

 

David realized how Eddie was cradling his head and he blushed furiously. He sat up and lightly pushed the Marine away to look around. Everyone was definitely staring at him like he’d grown a second head. Some were smirking but their hearts weren’t in it.

 

“You were screaming,” Eddie whispered, touching his arm. “No one could wake you up.”

 

“Fuck,” he huffed. He found his helmet and slapped it on but couldn’t see his gun in the dark. Alley silently passed the missing rifle to Eddie and the Marine carefully slid it into his lover’s lap. David brushed their hands in thanks and took it up. He rubbed his eyes and regained his composure. “I’m sorry about that, sir. I’ll stay awake.”

  
  
Eddie looked him over as if judging his sincerity but nodded. With one last pat to his shoulder, the Marine took up his own helmet and gun and headed back to his position. David settled back into his foxhole and tried not to meet anyone’s eyes. He knew their stares held weight but they didn’t matter.

 

David pulled his helmet down and took a few minutes to settle himself down and shake off the last of the nightmares. He felt the ground shifting around him and when he raised his head he was surrounded by troopers. Hoob, Lieb, Alley, McClung, Jackson, and he could see Toye and Guarnere watching like protective hawks.

 

“Webster.”

 

David mistook that accent for Roe and it was a bit of a shock to see K Company’s own Snafu watching him from his foxhole a bit away.

 

“Shelton?”

 

“We weren’t going to let them brain you.”

  
  
“Uh, thanks.”

 

o0o0o0o

 

Peleiu was hot and dry. David felt like he was melting under his uniform. He stayed in low ground with his squad as their tanks beat back the Japs. At least for now. The momentary reprieve was welcome.

 

“Paratroopers are not made to hit a beach in those fucking death boats,” Guarnere griped as he cut open a can of preserves. Toye was already trying to pick at it and he playfully shoved him away. “Give me a plane anytime.”

 

Hoobler was their lookout and he perked up. “Marine officer on deck.”

 

“On deck,” Liebgott mocked, rolling his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, it’s just Ack Ack checking up on his...what do you guys even call it?”

 

“Beau,” Shifty supplied helpfully.

 

David would’ve thrown rocks at them if he hadn’t been busy straightening up and beaming as Andy approached their group. They were far away enough from K Company that he hadn’t been able to keep an eye on him. “Sir.”

 

“You boys doing okay?” Andy asked, dropping to a knee beside their clearing. “Sergeant Guarnere, you have enough ammo?”

 

“We’re ready for whatever comes, sir,” Guarnere assured him, passing the tin to Toye when he tugged on it. “Some water would be nice.”

 

“Speirs is working on it, so am I,” Andy assured them. He glanced uncertainly down at the canteen in his own hand. It seemed he was struggling with something. David frowned a little, unsure, but his squad quickly figured it out.

 

“Sir?” Liebgott piped up. Andy gave him an amiable smile and he managed to return it. “That for Web?”

 

David frowned harder. “I don’t need-”

  
  
“Shut your yap, kid,” Guarnere ordered, nodding toward the officer. “It’s fine, sir.”

 

Andy looked to the others and they nodded in agreement. He sighed in relief and scooted closer to David, handing the canteen over. “Drink.”

  
  
David glanced nervously at his comrades. “Sir, I don’t feel good about it.”

 

“You heard your sergeant, shut up and drink it,” Andy pressed.

 

David could hear Liebgott gearing up to ream his ass, so he took it without another word of protest. He thumbed off the cap and drank it slow, moaning softly around the lip. Even warm and stale it was a relief.

 

“It’s all we could find,” Andy confessed lowly. “Eddie’s keeping an eye out but the water we found was poisoned.”

 

David restrained himself from licking the inside and handed it back. “Thanks, sir.”

 

Andy’s hand curled along the side of his throat and nails scratched affectionately through his hair. Craving a kiss, they leaned forward and tapped helmets instead. “Stay safe, David.” Andy forced himself to stand and nodded at the rest of the troopers. “All of you boys.”

 

“You too, Skipper.”

 

“Good luck, sir.”

 

The troopers watched him leave. Liebgott was the first to speak up, lips wrapped around a smoke. “That’s some husband you’ve got yourself there, Web.”

 

“Shut up, Lieb.” But there was no heat in it.

 

o0o0o0o

 

The heat of battle rolled through them like a storm. Like all storms, eventually the thunder was in the distance. They had a minute to catch their breath and tend to their wounded. Easy got out without too much of a hitch so Eugene took the time to scavenge amongst the dead for any bandages or morphine.

 

Snafu came out from around a rock face and took his arm. “Get over here.”

 

“Mer, what-?”

 

“Hurry up, Doc, God damn it!”

 

Eugene let himself get dragged into the thick of K Company and towards a bunker. The place was littered with bodies but there was just one Marine unattended and bleeding. There were two corpsmen already doing their duties but one man was left to wait. Seeing his face, Eugene knew right away why Snafu had come and got him.

 

“It’s Sledgehammer, Doc, he-”

 

“Yeah, I see him, Mer. Make room,” Eugene ordered, slapping the man’s hand away and sliding to his knees in front of the Marine. He tisked sharply to get Sledge’s attention and pried the man’s injured arm away from his chest. Sledge was a good boy and didn’t fight him like some others did so he was careful as he pulled back his sleeve. It was mostly a burn but a fat sliver of skin had come open. “Sledgehammer, huh?”

 

The Southern man tried to smile but it was strained like his face was locked up. “I didn’t pick it.”

 

“We rarely do.” He prodded gently at the wound and decided it wasn’t too serious. He put his satchel down and started to dig through it. “Don’t think we’ve met properly. I’m Eugene Roe with Easy.”

 

“Eugene Sledge.”

  
  
“It’s nice to meet you, Sledge.” Eugene managed a small smile as he pulled out a jar to show him. “I’m going to put some jelly and sulfa on you then wrap it all up. It’s gonna burn like hellfire. Mer says you’re from Mobile so I suppose hellfire isn’t a hard concept to imagine.”

 

Sledge shot an incredulous look at Snafu who was pacing nearby like an aggravated wolf. “Yeah, I’m familiar with it.”

 

A Marine corpsman came up and put a hand on Eugene’s shoulder. “I’ve got it, jumper.”

  
  
Eugene eyed the fingers on his shoulder with distaste. “You best remove your hand and give me room to work, Marine.”

 

Sledge waved the guy off. “I’m fine. He’s got me.”

 

Eugene shook his head at the way the man rolled his eyes and walked off. He sprinkled sulfa in the wound first and kept a firm grip on Sledge’s hand to keep him from pulling back. “If you’d rather have a Marine work on you, I understand. You boys stick together. We do too.”

 

“I really don’t care who does it,” Sledge replied honestly, still side-eyeing Snafu. “I think if someone else walks up he’s going to shoot them.”

  
  
“Him? Harmless,” Eugene teased, getting the Marine to crack a smile that actually reached his eyes. “A teddy bear. He’ll just give them a cuddle.”

 

Sledge laughed behind his hand, riding the endorphins of a fresh wound. “A friendly nibble.”

 

“A playful swat.” He applied the jelly efficiently while the other was distracted.

 

“Just a tiny peck of affection.”

 

“A nick or two. To show he cares, of course.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Almost done,” Eugene promised as he started to wrap up the Marine’s forearm, keeping it firm. He smoothed out the gauze to let it stick to the jelly and tied it all off nicely. He missed the way Sledge’s ears turned pink as he neatly folded down the Marine’s sleeve and buttoned it back. Eugene didn’t miss Snafu’s narrowed-eyes gaze or the possessive gleam in them. He got up and brushed off his knees with a sarcastic little bow. “Your friend’s all fixed up, Mer. Do you need me to wipe your ass or can I get back to my boys?”

 

Snafu stalked over and took him by the elbow once more but it was suggestive this time. Eugene let himself be walked over to the side out of earshot. “Is he going to be okay, Gene?”

 

“He’ll be fine.”

 

Snafu crinkled his nose up. “What about infection? What if he loses that arm?”

 

Eugene stepped closer and tilted his head so his breath tickled over Snafu’s cheek. “If that pretty beau of yours feels any bad pain, come find me. Otherwise he’ll heal just fine.”

 

He left Snafu behind, dazed and shivering in the hot sun.

 

o0o0o0o

 

The next time Eugene saw Snafu he was away from the rest of his company and hunched over on himself. He knew right away what was wrong. He’d seen enough stubborn, wounded men and the posture was familiar.

 

“As anyone checked that man?” Eugene demanded hotly, snatching a corpsman by the collar and pointing at Snafu. “Anyone checked him?”

 

“He said he’s fine, trooper.”

 

“Stupid,” Eugene hissed as he tossed the man away. He spat out a string of curses about bullheaded Marines as he stormed over to Snafu. “Show me, Shelton!”

 

Snafu’s helmet rattled but otherwise he didn’t move.

 

“You Goddamn mule,” Eugene scolded as he dropped down beside him. He yanked the Marine nearly into his lap and pushed at his shoulders to get him to unfurl. He smelled the blood before he saw it. Snafu’s face was scrunched and his eyes were screwed shut against the pain. There was crimson blooming along his side and it worried the medic. “Stay still. Let me see.”

 

Snafu’s head dropped onto his shoulder but he let the Marine do what he wanted as he started to unbutton his uniform to get inside. He rucked up Snafu’s shirts and found three small wounds. Shrapnel maybe, a ricochet. He felt around the edges of the wound and picked out the bits of fabric that had caught in it. There was a sliver of metal in one but the third wound seemed to just be a graze that was bleeding.

 

“That close to the ribs, you bleed. Looks worse than it is,” Eugene promised as he dug bandages and sulfa out of his bag. He was shaking out a pack of powder when he felt something hot and wet on his neck. For just a second he thought Snafu was crying but the desperate, thick wetness told him it was something more. Snafu was kissing his throat, sloppy and open mouthed, just chasing the feeling of something warm. It was just a moment’s pause and then Eugene was right back to it.

 

“Gene,” Snafu panted against his skin, teeth grazing his pulse.

 

“Do whatever you need to, just hold still,” Eugene ordered as he poured sulfa into the wounds. He packed on the gauze while Snafu nursed at his throat. For comfort or sensation he wasn’t sure but it didn’t matter. He dared someone to say something. He tied down the bandages.

 

Lips curved in the ghost of a smirk against his skin. “Going to fix me up, Doc? All shiny and new?”

 

“Shut up and be good, Mer.”

 

“Don’t know how to do either of those.”

 

“If you’re running your mouth you can get back into combat, Marine.”

 

Snafu’s helmet dug into him as the man rubbed his face against him. “One more minute?”

 

Eugene slowed his movements and sent a thankful prayer to whoever was listening that Snafu had made it out okay. Some guys were not so lucky.

 

o0o0o0o

 

“Webster!”

 

David could hear Martin yelling his name but his feet stuck in the coral the second he saw Eddie running into a tight crevice with a string of Marines behind him. David didn’t see Sledge of Snafu with him, no RV, no Andy. It made his heart jump up into the back of his throat. His stomach threatened to bottom out in worry. He couldn’t let him go with so few backup.

 

Then he heard the call for a corpsman. It was the call no one wanted to hear.

 

“Webster, get your ass back here _now_!”

 

For the first time, David abandoned his squad and ignored an officer’s orders. He raced through the crevice and uphill, spilling clumsily to where the Marines were clustered. It was Eddie, _his_ Eddie. With his wild curls and that wide grin, but now covered in dirt and his own blood as one of the Marines cut open his shirt to reveal the fresh wounds on his stomach. His face was pulled in pain and there was scarlet across the straight line of his teeth as he snarled at the sky. It must have been bad shrapnel or a blast gone wrong.

 

When Eddie caught sight of him he tried to sober up but there was suffering in his bloodshot eyes.

 

“Oh _Christ_ , Eddie,” David gasped, sliding to his hands and knees beside him. His rifle clattered away but he didn’t care. Eddie’s head shot up and the panic in his eyes softened. One of those shaking hands grabbed his forearm leaking sticky fingerprints behind. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t supposed to _be_ like this.”

 

Eddie sucked in a breath and he swore he could see the finality in his eyes. “Web-”

  
  
“ _No_. Don’t you fucking say goodbye.” David whipped his head around in search of a red cross. “Medic!”

 

Eddie squeezed his arm as best he could. “David, just-”

 

“It’s going to be okay,” David insisted, taking his hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it without thinking. He glared white-hot at the Marines around them. “Where’s the Goddamn medic?”

 

“Private-”

 

“Give me the fucking sulfa, I’ll do it myself!” David hissed, ripping the packet out of the shaking hands of the nearest Marine. With a warning that it was going to sting, David ripped it open and dumped it on the open wounds. Eddie spat out out a glob of blood and cursed at the pain but took it.

 

“Corpsman!” he heard someone yell behind him, eyes stuck on the wounds. Eddie’s eyes were starting to look glassy and it sent David’s heart knocking against his ribs.

 

“Look at me,” David demanded though his voice was starting to give. “Please, Eddie...please. You’re going to be okay.”

 

Eddie nodded, though if it was in assurance or at the two corpsmen who approached he wasn’t sure. They worked efficiently to bandage up the wound and pull out the stretcher. “They’re going to fix you up. You’re going to make it back home before any of us.”

 

Eddie attempted a smile and it tugged at his heart. “Yeah, darlin’, s-sure they will.”

 

One of the corpsmen declared him stable enough to move and demanded they get him on the stretcher - _fast_. There was an urgency in their tone that set everyone into motion. David was flanked by Snafu and Sledge and the three of them along with the others helped start moving Eddie. Jay took the lead.

 

David felt a hand lay over his own on the fallen tree and met Eddie’s worried gaze, fingers slick with blood as they briefly laced with his own.

 

“It’s not going to end like this,” David swore, feeling the truth of the statement all the way down to his sour stomach. He swallowed a whine at the way Eddie’s eyes screwed up and he cussed up a storm as he was picked up and laid on the stretcher. The trooper moved to put himself in Eddie’s eyeline as the others picked up the stretcher to get moving. “This ain’t shit.”

 

Eddie screamed as he was jostled and David’s steps got sloppy as he walked backwards.

 

“That’s what you Marines say, right?” David insisted, touching his leg to try and ground him.

 

Eddie sputtered out a weak laugh and the blood on his lips did nothing to ease his want to kiss the man. “Something like that.”

 

“Yeah, this ain’t shit,” David drawled, imitating his accent and getting a half smile. “Andy’s going to whoop my ass for letting you get hurt. So you better pull through or I’m-”

 

David would’ve recognized the whipcrack of a bullet in his sleep. There was a particular sound to it whizzing by your head and the familiar heat of an almost-hit. What he didn’t recognize was the cherry red that sprayed all over the stretcher. He swore a Marine had punched him in the back and he watched with a growing detachment as Eddie’s jaw fell open in another scream.

 

Was he hurt? Why was he screaming?

 

The pain hit him all at once. David stepped back and clutched his stomach, trying to relieve whatever cramp was in his gut, and his boot slipped. Another whipcrack and the Marines were screaming all around him. Heat flared in his belly and in his shoulder and then...and then...

  
  
Not like this.

 

Eddie watched David go down hard into the coral. The trooper was filled with wide eyed panic as blood bubbled past his lips and stained his shirt. There was a new hole in David’s gut and he knew they didn’t have long to help him. His friends fumbled around him, dropping low to avoid the new barrage of bullets, and the gurney tilted forward. He ripped away from the hands that tried to hold him in place and pushed forward, ignoring the hot flare of agony that rippled through his own chest.

 

“Web? _David_.” He grabbed a handful of the trooper’s uniform and dragged himself closer, trying to look into his face. David was gurgling faintly, eyes fluttering wildly at the sky as fresh blood gushed from his shoulder. Eddie tried to put his hand on the wound but his world was swimming and his grip was faltering. He tried to think of something to say, anything at all, but nothing made it past his tight throat. _Don’t leave me. Don’t go._

  
  
He didn’t hear the bullet but he saw the gush of red, could feel it welling up in his throat. _Lord, don’t let me drown in my own fucking blood._

 

Eddie was gone before it could happen.

 

o0o

 

They all watched David get shot. Once, twice, and then Eddie right in the chest. They watched as his hand was flung from David’s jacket, how they were ripped apart by the force of the bullet. The pair were gone before the corpsmen could do more than lay a hand on them. They took their last breaths one right after the other.

 

But the Marines were still in the worst of it. They couldn’t stop moving, not even if they wanted to.

 

“Oh, fuck!”

 

Sledge stared vacantly at Snafu like he was searching for the joke, the other shoe to fall, and that’s when Haldane’s orders carried over. It was Burgie’s voice too. They were both shouting to fall back, to come to them. A retreat that came too late. While the men still gawked dumbly at the Marine and the Paratrooper, Snafu was the one who snarled the order to get moving.

 

“Jay, take him! We ain’t leaving him behind!”

 

Jay hauled David over his shoulders and strained to lift him but he managed to stay up once he got running. The others took Eddie’s stretcher and started back towards the rally point. Back to their CO. They made it around through the crevice and it was Snafu and Sledge who laid Eddie down before their commander. Jay spread the Paratrooper down on the ground as carefully as he could and stepped back. The corpsman took one last check of each man’s neck for a vital and when they found nothing they left for the alive wounded. None of them were prepared to watch their CO drop to his knees between them and look as if he’d lost everything.

 

Andy couldn’t think. Devastation wiped his mind as easily as a slate. Tears stung the corner of his eyes and he tried to speak but his mouth worked uselessly as his eyes passed to each man. His throat clicked dryly as he tried to work out what was before him.

 

“Eddie?” The name seared his tongue. He dropped his hand down and curled it around Eddie’s, thumbing along the back of it. He was limp and warm like he was just sleeping. Andy could admit his partner looked somehow peaceful amidst the blood speckling his face. He tried to let go but his hand didn’t obey. “Eddie.”

 

Andy dragged his eyes over to the other man who had been laid beside him. David didn’t look peaceful. He looked confused, _hurt_. Though he was gone, his eyes were open as if trying to see where the bullets came from and his mouth hung open. It had caught him by surprise. Two shots from behind. He never saw it coming. He touched David’s hand but flinched when he found it had started to cool already even in the Pacific heat. “David.”

 

Andy curled his fingers in both of theirs and clenched his eyes shut. He didn’t want his last memory of them to be this. He wanted to remember them in the ocean, laughing in the sun. Their quiet moans in the candlelight of his tent, their fingers on his jaw, their mouths smiling against his throat. He wanted to remember them leaning against one another, tipping their helmets to touch, stealing winks across companies. He wanted - _needed_ \- to remember the rasp of their kisses and the way their arms had felt around his waist.

 

This...this was a nightmare that would haunt him and he didn’t need to see it a moment longer. It would come back to him every time he closed his eyes from now on. He wanted to be there for them, to tell them he loved them, to keep them from being alone.

 

 _No_. Andy stopped that line of thought before he went too deep. They were gone. The men he’d loved weren’t there anymore. These bodies, these wounds, weren’t his Eddie or David any longer. Lingering would only put his men in danger. “Take them back. Tell Speirs.”

 

“Sir?” Burgie touched his shoulder with a carefulness that said he must have been quite a sight. He raised his head and there was Eugene Roe from Easy with his med bag and a slack jawed expression on his face.

 

“Roe,” Andy greeted duly, forcing his hands back to himself. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Sir, what…” Roe’s brows drew tight. “What am I supposed to tell _them_?”

 

‘Them’ ended up being a nearby squad of Easy troopers who were squinting at them to try and get a look at what had happened.

 

“You tell them the truth.” Andy wiped his hands on his pants to try and shed the touch memory of David’s cold fingers. He got to his feet and made himself turn away as they took Eddie away, Snafu helping a corpsman put David’s body onto a stretcher. “It just happened.”

 

“He was trying to keep Lieutenant Jones calm,” Sledge croaked, still staring down at where the bodies had been. “He was trying to _help_.”

 

“We’re pulling back,” Roe stated though he sounded far gone. “I was sent to grab him and rip his ass for breaking orders. I’ll...go tell them.”

 

Snafu’s mouth opened to say something but he only clacked it shut again, letting the medic return to his group. While Andy retreated into himself and the role he needed to provide; Burgie, Sledge, Snafu, and Jay looked on as Roe returned to the Paratroopers and gave them the news. They knew the men and their names, knew that David had been close to all of them. He was their brother, ribbing and name-calling included. And they could see it in the way their faces crumbled.

 

Liebgott turned away and braced himself against the coral, cigarette falling forgotten from his fingers.

 

“God fucking damn it!” Guarnere screamed over the roar of artillery, kicking off a sizeable chunk of coral and then chucking his helmet when that didn’t appease his anger. Toye laid a hand over his helmet and lowered it, obscuring his face as it pulled in grief. Hoobler and Shifty looked dumbstruck, eyes already glittering in the harsh glare of the sun. Skinny looked to Martin, trying to find something to say, but the sergeant was staring hard at the ground with a white knuckled grip on his rifle.

 

“ _Fuck_!” Liebgott barked, slamming his fists into the coral. Across the way, Jay flinched at how sharp the sound carried. He drove his boot into the rockface over and over until Grant came over and took him around the waist. “Get your fucking hands off me!”

 

Grant held him tight until he slumped into his arms.

 

When Sledge managed to get to his feet on the CO’s orders, he fell in step beside Snafu. They bumped shoulders and he accepted the smoke the Cajun passed to him.

 

“I was just starting to like the Professor,” Snafu admitted between pulls, moving closer to his friend. “Think Hillbilly loved him?”

 

“You saw the way he looked at him,” Sledge replied, watching Haldane’s form further up and keeping his voice down. “The way they both looked at him, and each other. It’s not fair, Snaf. Finding somebody like that, two somebodies, and this? It’s just...not _fair_.”

 

“Maybe it’s for the best,” Snafu murmured lowly in his ear, the words only meant for him. He thought of himself, of Gene and stolen kisses and rough hands on his cock, and of Sledge. “I mean, the three of them? What the fuck were they going to do after the war?”

 

“Shut your fucking mouth, Snafu.” Sledge grabbed him so hard by the elbow he felt the bones grind together. He tried to jerk away by the man held tighter than he thought capable. “They deserved a _chance_. More than the rest of us got.”

 

Snafu snapped his mouth shut again and didn’t open it until they were far away from Haldane. The men would give him as much time as they could to grieve. And if some of the Paratroopers stuck closer to K Company no one said anything.


	4. Epilogue 1

The train was relentless. Easy and K Company disappeared like smoke, some promising to stay in touch and others not saying anything at all. Some friendships would last, some would rot, and some ended up more than they’d meant to.

 

Liebgott glanced up at the tall, blonde man as a matchbook was tossed onto the table he was playing cards on. To his credit Grant didn’t say a word and kept his eyes down to stay away from the quickly swelling, intimate moment. Hoosier plucked the smoke from his lips and cast a critical eye over him, and he looked back just as hard. Liebgott thought it was a challenge but when he glanced at the matchbook he saw an address scrawled on the flat of it.

 

“Keep in touch,” Hoosier grunted.

 

Liebgott scoffed and snatched Grant’s little notepad off the table. “Yeah, whatever. You got a pencil, goatfucker?”

 

o0o

 

Snafu stayed by Eugene’s side because he was a safe option. He wouldn’t leave because they were going to the same place. What would happen after New Orleans he didn’t know but at least their stop was the same. And Snafu couldn’t have stayed away from Sledge even if the man had asked. 

 

Snafu sat across from Eugene and they shared a pack of smokes as the night passed by the window. They were getting closer to New Orleans by the minute and soon it’d be time to make some decisions. Snafu watched Sledge sleep peacefully across the aisle all tucked up on himself. He looked young and sweet with the faintest curve to his lips that could’ve been a smile. 

 

Eugene was watching Snafu and he wasn’t surprised to see the affection warming the other’s eyes. He had no illusions about where he stood with the man. There was something warm between them, something real that had grown in their few interactions. Something raw that needed cultivating. Sledge had been by Snafu’s side since the young Marine had arrived and their bond was eons stronger. He respected it. Hell, he was rooting for it.

 

It didn’t hurt that Sledge was easy on the eyes.

 

“Anything waiting on you in the city?” Eugene asked.

 

“No,” Snafu admitted, head cocking to the side as Sledge stirred. “The way I figure, I don’t even have clothes waiting on me. I left the door unlocked when I left. I’m sure the landlord sold everything when I upped and disappeared on him.”

 

Eugene nodded along and tapped ash out on his saucer. “That’s fine. We’ll grab you something in the city.” He felt Snafu’s gaze slide to him like a caress. “Gotta’ wash up nice for my mother. She won’t accept just a uniform for lunch and dinner.”

 

He looked up and got a thrill out of reducing Snafu to a dumb gape. “If you got nothing else to do, that is.”

 

Snafu’s mouth worked uselessly around words that weren’t coming. He chewed his own cheek and lips, eyes darting all over the table for some kind of answer or distraction. There was nothing besides Sledge and their cigarettes to look at so he was right back to looking at Eugene. “You askin’ me to come home with you, Doc?”

 

Eugene pulled off his smoke and nodded. 

 

Snafu honestly blushed and he wasn’t sure if it was from the offer or how his cheeks hollowed out like they had done around the Marine’s cock. Not even Sledge could make Snafu go all shy and sweet.

 

“Free food sounds nice,” Snafu mumbled in agreement.

 

“What are you going to do about him?” Eugene nodded toward Sledge and stubbed out his cigarette. “You gonna leave him like that?”

 

Snafu shrugged again but there was pain between his brows. “He don’t need me no more.”

 

"Bull,” Eugene accused. “He's got nothing waiting for him back in Mobile. Heard it right from the man’s mouth. We can put him up.”

 

Snafu frowned heavily, cigarette burning out unsmoked between his fingers. “Your mama gonna’ be okay with that?”

 

“I got my own place on the land. She won’t mind unless we miss dinner. She loves to cook,” Eugene assured. His lips ticked up. “And I won’t mind having another pretty boy around the house.”

 

Snafu’s gaze was razor sharp as he tried to feel him out but he didn’t protest. Neither of them were easy to read and it wasn’t like he was going to trap Snafu at his house if things went south. He’d surely pay for a train ticket to Mobile for them both if they wanted otherwise. Taking a chance seemed worth it. Eugene hadn’t been in his own bed in a long time and he remembered it being quite cold and large. Maybe Snafu was just what he needed to fill it.

 

Maybe they’d be able to fit Sledge in with them if they managed not to fatten up on his mother’s gumbo.

 

Eugene stubbed out his cigarette as the train rolled to a stop. He got up and grabbed Snafu’s bag before the man could stop him. He tossed the bag beside Sledge and the Marine yelped himself awake at the sudden noise. Eugene slung down his own bag before dipping down brush his mouth against Snafu’s ear.

 

“Say goodbye proper or invite him along. Either way, don’t keep me waiting.”

 

Snafu gawked at Eugene’s retreating back and he wondered just what the sinful man was playing at. From his cock pushed against the fly of his pants he guessed it was on board with whatever plan the former medic was laying out. Sledge was wiping his mouth and blinking between them both with a heavy dose of sleepy confusion.

 

“Where are we?”

 

Snafu rose up with a sudden confidence and held his hand out to the Marine. “You ever wanted to see New Orleans, Sledgehammer?”


	5. Epilogue 2

**Thank you guys for all your support and sweet words. You guys keep me going. Thank you a hundred times over. Now here we go, the happy ending I promised**

 

* * *

 

 

Andy didn’t remember much. A ledge of rock, a full breath to gather his courage, and a _pop_. He felt dirt beneath his hands, the earth coming up to meet his back, he couldn’t breathe or see - but all those sensations slammed to the back of his mind when he opened his eyes again.

 

It was all bright, open sky above his head. He struggled to catch his breath and the sun blinded him. He felt heavy and sluggish like there was molasses in his veins. He managed to raise his hand to shield his eyes and he froze. His hand was so… _clean_. There was a watch on his wrist that he’d never seen before. It was a sleek, black metal he’d never seen and the screen was liquid black. It looked dangerous and foreign and he wanted to rip it off his arm.

 

A thought curled around that fear. This was his watch. It was a gift from someone who loved him and he treasured it. He wore it everyday.

 

Andy could feel a headache building along his left temple and he winced as he rubbed it. The more he blinked the more the world came into focus.

 

“I thought you were going to sleep the whole afternoon,” a familiar, accented voice drifted over to him. He raised his head and gaped at the sight. He was in a yard, lush and green and surrounded by a strong fence. There was a young Beagle knocking a ball around with his nose and clumsy paws. Past the sweet pup was Eddie, _his_ Eddie. Long and lean, curls overgrown and caught up in the wind. He was smiling just as bright as the sunshine and he was dressed down to some threadbare jeans and a ratty t-shirt. He was standing in front of a smoking grill with a pile of thick steaks and burgers ready to cook. Staring at him, Andy realized he was on a lawn chair with a long seat that allowed him to recline. Woven, shiny fabric glittered under his legs.

 

Jeans, lawn chair, t-shirt, grill...those words were unfamiliar but were starting to make sense the longer he mulled them over. The more he looked around the more he realized the world was not the same. The houses on each side of them were different, the sounds, even the telephone poles looked different.

 

“You need your shades?” Eddie called, smile fading a little. “You look wrung out as hell, Andy. I’ll save you a plate if you wanna’ head back in for a real nap?”

 

Andy braced his hands on the lawn chair and gradually sat up, shaking his head and clearing his throat. He wanted to tell Eddie he was fine but his throat was dry. He was strung between wanting to joke with Eddie and to weep at the sight of him. The last time he’d seen him had been on a dirty stretcher, covered in blood and growing cold and-

 

Andy hissed and dug the heel of his palm into his eyes. That image was fading fast. Had it been a nightmare? It had felt so damn _real_. Not just his Eddie but David. Sweet David, lips slick with blood, those eyes dull and unseeing.

 

There was a _snicksnack_ and the Beagle started yipping softly.

 

“It’s just me, Honeysuckle, calm the hell down.”

 

Andy whipped around and nearly banged his elbow on the chair to see where that voice was coming from. _David_. He looked stunning in the fresh sunlight. Dark hair curling softly over his forehead, eyes glimmering with joy behind thick rimmed glasses as the Beagle came to dance around his feet. He was in a soft blue sweater and pressed khaki pants that made his legs look miles long. He looked good, Eddie’s opposite in every way.

 

David took off his satchel and pulled off his socks, shoes somewhere inside. He walked out into the grass and hummed as he wiggled his toes in the warmth. “Is that lunch?”

 

“And dinner,” Eddie assured, gesturing him over. “Come here, pretty boy.”

 

David flashed Andy a brilliant smile as he went over to their third. Andy couldn’t stop staring. David looked older than he remembered but caught himself thinking _remembered from where?_ What was there besides now? What had come before? The answers eluded him and they became less important as he watched the two meet in a kiss. They smiled and leaned into one another like it was the most natural thing, like they’d done it a hundred times. Eddie mussed the perfect curl of David’s hair and laughed when the other scolded him for it. They brushed noses and their fingers caught lazily in belts and shirts.

 

“How was class?”

 

“It went well.”

 

“That lecture go smoothly?”

 

“As smoothly as it could’ve. Most of them were half asleep but I got a nice debate going afterward. I think I’m going to have some heated essays to grade after today.”

 

“Good. No more gettin’ pegged as the easy class.”

 

With one last kiss, David turned back and headed toward Andy who was starting to feel a little more comfortable. His lover - _boyfriend_ , his mind supplied - smiled and crawled into his lap with a practiced grace. They’d done this before many times. David was a professor at a good university. Literature, the arts, and he was working on a psychology masters. His brilliant, playful, sweet boyfriend.

 

 _Their_ boyfriend.

 

“So we’ve got the whole weekend together,” David hummed, curling his arms around his neck and pulling him in to brush their noses. Andy chuckled breathlessly and suddenly he couldn’t remember what the man’s blood smelled like. “I don’t know how we managed it.”

 

“Luck, maybe.” His voice was rough from sleep but the humor was there.

 

“I was wanted to ask something.” Dark lashes fluttered over blue eyes and Andy knew in that moment he was a sucker for the man. He’d give him anything. “Do you mind if I have some of the guys over? I know it was supposed to be a day of relaxing grilling for Gordon Ramsey over there _but_.”

 

He drew the last word out and a mischievous grin split his face. Andy knew he was doomed. “I brought more steaks and tons of chicken home. And it’s just a couple of our friends.”

 

Andy felt like he should’ve been putting up more of a fight but he was too busy savoring the way his palms fit along David’s hips. The feeling of wrongness was fading fast and it was starting to feel normal to talk like this with these strange clothes. What seemed like a script of answers before was starting to become more natural. “How many are we talking?”

 

“My coworkers, Leckie and Sledge.” David gave a purposeful wiggle and Andy was starting to forget his own name. “A few friends of theirs. A couple of Babe’s friends from down at the garage who were thinking about becoming students. I was hoping we could convince them to come to the side of academia.”

 

“What’d he say?” Eddie asked impatiently, tapping his tongs against the grills. “Should I cook up all this or not?”

 

David pouted and Andy chuckled warmly at the cute little jut of his lip. “Why do you need my permission?”

 

David floundered a little there. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, brow pinching up. “It’s your house.”

 

Andy shook his head and tugged David closer to steal a kiss. It was featherlight and it made his heart tremble. “It’s _our_ house.”

 

David flushed all the way down his throat and stuttered out his name. He wasn’t sure why it surprised his boyfriend so much but it only made him want take another kiss. The moment their mouths touched, David grabbed him by the shirt and licked between his lips. Andy let himself get caught up in the passion of it and hugged the man around the middle. He was so warm and real on his lap, so beautiful. Full of _life_.

 

As David kissed along his jaw and palmed him through his jeans, Andy forgot all about what should have been and fell headfirst into the _now_.


End file.
